Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - The EU Internal Security Strategy in Action: Five steps towards a more secure Europe (COM(2010) 673 final of 22.11.2010)

SUMMARY

WHAT DOES THIS COMMUNICATION DO?

It aims at putting the European Union (EU) Internal Security Strategy into action. Focusing on organised crime, terrorism, cybercrime, border security and disasters, it proposes specific actions for the period 2011-14.

KEY POINTS

The European Council endorsed the European Union (EU) Internal Security Strategy (ISS) at its meeting of 25-26 March 2010. The strategy sets out the challenges, principles and guidelines for dealing with security threats relating to organised crime, terrorism and natural and man-made disasters.

The communication sets out five strategic objectives, with specific actions for each objective, for overcoming the most urgent challenges in order to make the EU more secure.

Disrupt international criminal networks

The disruption of criminal networks and the elimination of the financial incentives that drive these networks are necessary for combating crime. To achieve this objective, the actions proposed consist of:

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identifying and dismantling criminal networks: legislation on the collection and use of Passenger Name Records, amendments to the anti-money laundering legislation and guidelines for the use of national bank account registers for tracing criminal finances is to be proposed. A strategy for information collection and use by law enforcement and judicial authorities is to be drawn up, the setting up of joint operations and joint investigation teams are to be reinforced, and the implementation of the European arrest warrant is to be improved;

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protecting the economy against criminal infiltration: a proposal for monitoring and assisting EU countries’ anti-corruption efforts is to be adopted, a network of national contact points will be set up, and actions to enforce intellectual property rights are to be taken;

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confiscating criminal assets: legislation to improve the legal framework on confiscation is to be proposed, national Asset Recovery Offices are to be set up and indicators developed for their evaluation, and best practice guidance on preventing criminals from reacquiring confiscated assets is to be provided.

Prevent terrorism and address radicalisation and recruitment

Since the threat of terrorism is constantly evolving, Europe’s efforts to combat it must also evolve to stay ahead of the threat. To this end, a coherent European approach and preventive action are needed:

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empowering communities to prevent radicalisation and recruitment: an EU radicalisation-awareness network is to be created, a ministerial conference on the prevention of radicalisation and recruitment is to be organised, and a handbook to support EU countries actions is to be drawn up;

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cutting off terrorists’ access to funding and material and following their transactions: a framework for freezing assets and for preventing and combating terrorism is to be established, legislative and non-legislative action is to be taken to implement the action plans on explosives and on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear substances, and policy for the extraction and analysis of financial messaging data in the EU is to be set out;

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protecting transport: the EU regime for aviation and maritime security is to be further developed.

Raise levels of security for citizens and businesses in cyberspace

Rapidly evolving information technologies also create new forms of threats. To combat cybercrime, EU countries must collaborate at EU level to take further action:

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building capacity in law enforcement and the judiciary: an EU cybercrime centre for cooperation between EU countries and EU institutions is to be established, and EU countries’ capacities for investigation and prosecution will be developed;

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working with industry to empower and protect citizens: a system for reporting cybercrime incidents is to be set up, and guidelines on cooperation for treating illegal internet content will be drawn up;

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improving capability for dealing with cyber attacks: a network of national and EU level Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) and a European Information and Alert System (EISAS) is to be set up.

Strengthen security through border management

In relation to the movement of persons, the EU can treat migration management and the fight against crime as twin objectives of the integrated border management strategy. The instruments improving security in relation to the movement of goods are also complementary, and are constantly being developed to tackle the increasingly sophisticated criminal organisations. In line with this, the actions proposed consist of:

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exploiting the full potential of Eurosur: the full implementation of Eurosur is to be accomplished in order to save migrants' lives and prevent crime threats at EU borders;

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enhancing the contribution ofFrontexat external borders: annual reports on specific cross-border crimes is to be drafted to form the basis of joint operations;

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developing common risk management for movement of goods across external borders: EU level capabilities for risk analysis and targeting is to be improved;

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improving interagency cooperation at national level: national common risk analyses are to be developed, the coordination of border checks by national authorities is to be improved, and best practices for interagency cooperation are to be developed.

Increase Europe’s resilience to crises and disasters

The cross-sectoral threats posed by natural and man-made crises and disasters necessitate improvements to long-standing crisis and disaster management practices in terms of efficiency and coherence. This is to be achieved through:

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making full use of the solidarity clause: a proposal on the application of the solidarity clause is to be adopted;

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developing an all-hazards approach to threat and risk assessment: guidelines for disaster management are to be drawn up, national approaches are to be developed, cross-sectoral overviews of possible risks are to be established together with overviews of current threats, an initiative on health security is to be developed, and a risk management policy is to be established;

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linking the different situation awareness centres: links between sector-specific early warning and crisis cooperation systems are to be improved, and a proposal for better coordination of classified information between EU institutions and bodies is to be adopted;

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: First Annual Report on the implementation of the EU Internal Security Strategy (COM(2011) 790 final of 25.11.2011).

This concludes that important progress was made in regard to the 5 strategic objectives but work needed to be done to ensure the security of the European citizen. Progress in all priorities is needed, but in particular in the fight against serious and organised crime, and the growing cyber threat.

Besides identifying objective specific future activities, further progress needs to be made in regard to:

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judicial and law enforcement cooperation;

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the development of the administrative approach in combating serious crime;

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a framework for administrative measures on the freezing of terrorist assets and the improvement of land transport security;

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ratification of the Budapest Convention in relation to fighting cybercrime;

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Smart Borders proposals and improved interagency cooperation at national level.

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council: Second Report on the implementation of the EU Internal Security Strategy (COM(2013) 179 final of 10.4.2013).

This Second Report looks at the progress made in 2012, as well as identifying the challenges to be tackled in 2013. It concludes that implementation of the ISS is generally good. While much has been achieved in regard to each of the five strategic objectives, some aspects still need to be addressed.

Besides identifying objective specific future activities, the main challenges to be addressed in 2013 are: organised crime, money laundering, corruption, trafficking and mobile organised crime groups, as well as cybercrime. Another issue for 2013 is to improve tools to better counter growing violent extremism.

The Report states that the last implementation report is to be presented in mid-2014 and is to assess the ISS to date and consider the future challenges in the field.